Baked Beans

ARTICLES ABOUT BAKED BEANS BY DATE - PAGE 4

Baked beans-as American as the Fourth of July-are splendid summertime picnic fare. While appreciating the comforting qualities of this hearty food, it's only polite to remember the humble beginnings of baked beans as an outdoor food. Our kitchen techniques have been adapted from those of the Native Americans and the cowpokes. Although not quite as common as prairie dog holes, the frontier was dotted with bean holes. Beans were baked in covered clay pots is holes dug in the ground and lined with hot stones or charcoal ash, then covered with soil to hold in the heat during slow cooking.

Champions of New England-style cooking must walk a rocky shore of prejudice and misconception, says Boston restaurateur Jasper White. "We have this terrible image problem with 'stodgy` New England and frumpy-looking people with their blue blazers and their tasteless, bland, boiled food," White grumbled the other day. His unruly hair and loose Italian jacket certainly did work against that old picture of the pinch-featured, taciturn Yankee....

The lazy, hazy days of summer can be preserved during the cold, snowy winters in Du Page County. A little take-away restaurant in Westmont called Ribs-R-Us dishes up barbeque ribs and summer memories for it's customers to take home. Owner Mike Simms is an affable guy with an quick laugh, but he becomes serious when he talks about his hickory-smoked ribs and down-home country fixin's of sweet-potato pie, baked beans, coleslaw and hot links. Hot links? Simms explained his secret: "It's on the order of an Italian sausage that we dip in our secret sauce."

Sisters Nancy Hale and Lisa Kuk have gone international. Each month, that is, they celebrate a different country with a selection of ethnic foods at their Wilmette gourmet take-out food shop at 111 Green Bay Rd. "We just thought it would be nice to offer some different types of foods," said Hale, "besides, it's fun to research these dishes." For their Dutch promotion, they have brought in tulips and fresia and cooked up special chocolate shortbread cookies, split pea soup, a smoked fish spread and baked beans.

When the games were over Saturday everybody sat down and had a picnic. Hamburgers, hot dogs, salad, baked beans. "Your basic picnic," said Casey-Westfield coach Denny Throneburg. If you were a hitter, though, Saturday's main event-a softball showdown between No. 1 ranked Thornwood (13-3) and defending Class A state champion and host Casey-Westfield-was definitely no walk in the park. Casey (14-2) took the first game 2-0 as ace Lana Davis (9-0, 0.09 ERA, one earned run all season)

During the winter holidays every year, many Americans remember the Indians, who gave them the traditional roast turkey and cranberry sauce, the squash and sweet potato casseroles, cornbread and oyster stuffings-and delicious fruit, pumpkin, and pecan pies. But few recognize the much broader extent to which Indian food radically changed cooking and dining all over the world. Potatoes, corn, tomatoes, chilies and green peppers formed the first wave of American flavorings to circle the globe.

If you`ve always wanted a meat loaf that slices well, this is it. Say goodbye to crumbled slices, soggy lumps, greasy blobs. This one is a lean meat loaf, so lean you`ll probably want to sauce it. This loaf has an unusual flavor because sausage is added in equal parts to lean ground beef. Most rolls of bulk sausage are quite lean and do not produce a lot of drippings. However, the extra step of draining this loaf during baking ensures a lean result in the end. By draining it, there's no chance of the loaf re-absorbing the drippings while it's standing, waiting to be sliced.

If you`ve always wanted a meat loaf that slices well, this is it. Say goodbye to crumbled slices, soggy lumps, greasy blobs. This one is a lean meat loaf, so lean you`ll probably want to sauce it. This loaf has an unusual flavor because sausage is added in equal parts to lean ground beef. Most rolls of bulk sausage are quite lean and do not produce a lot of drippings. However, the extra step of draining this loaf during baking ensures a lean result in the end. By draining it, there's no chance of the loaf re-absorbing the drippings while it's standing, waiting to be sliced.

With no less prestigious an outfit than the Harvard Medical School leading the way, the subject here today is gas in the lower bowel. "It never killed anyone, but that's about the best that can be said for it," the Medical School's Health Letter says. "Millions of people spend too much time worrying about foods they shouldn`t eat, noises they shouldn`t make, sphincters they shouldn`t trust --all because they are prone to excess gasiness," the Harvard writers contend. To this common-sense assessment, the writers add, "Even when the usual dietary rules are followed--no beans, broccoli, cabbage, soda pop, dairy products--a state of gasless bliss is rarely achieved."